5 What Is Prayer?

One of the ways God allows his creation to stay involved with him is through prayer. Prayer,
which is personal communication from us to God, not only helps us know about God but also
helps us truly know God. Through prayer we can communicate our requests to God, confess
our sins to God, and give adoration, praise, and thanksgiving to God.

The Reason for Prayer

God does not want us to pray so that he can find out what we need, for Jesus said, Your
Father knows what you need before you ask him (Matt. 6:8). Instead, God wants us to pray so
that our dependence on him can increase. When we come to him in prayer about something,
we express a trust in him, a trust that he will hear and answer our prayers. That is why Jesus
compares our prayers to a child asking his father for a fish or an egg (Luke 11:9 - 12). As a child
trusts and expects his father to provide for him, so we ought to expect, in faith, that God will
provide for us. That is why Jesus said, Whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you
have faith (Matt. 21:22).

God does not just desire that our trust in him will grow through prayer; he also desires that our
love for him and our relationship with him will deepen and grow. When we truly pray, we pray
with the wholeness of our character, relating to the wholeness of his character. Therefore,
what we think and feel about God will come through in our prayers. This will, in turn, deepen
our love and understanding of God and, in the end, deepen our relationship with him. This is
something that God delights in. It is also something that brings him glory.

Finally, God wants us to pray because it allows us to be a part of a story that is greater than
our own. It allows us to be involved in activities that have eternal significance. When we pray,
Gods kingdom is advanced as his will is done on earth as it is in heaven (Matt. 6:10).

The Effectiveness of Prayer

When we ask for things in prayer, God often responds to those prayers. Jesus makes this clear
when he says, Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be
opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one
who knocks it will be opened (Luke 11:9 - 10). Our failure to ask God for things is often the
reason we do not receive what he delights to give to us. James says, You do not have, because
you do not ask (James 4:2).

The Scriptures give many examples of God responding, even changing the way he acts, in
response to the prayers of individuals. For example, when the Lord told Moses he would
destroy the people of Israel for their sin, Moses responded with the following prayer: Turn
from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people (Ex. 32:12). In
response, the LORD relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people
(Ex. 32:14). On a more personal level, John tells us that if we confess our sins, he is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). These
two examples, along with the many others in the Bible, should encourage us to pray more,
boldly asking the Lord to work in ways only he can work.

On our own, though, we have no right to boldly ask God for anything. Our own personal sin
should disqualify us from requesting anything from a holy God. But if our faith is in Jesus, the
Bible tells us he is the reason our prayers are effective. He stands as the one mediator
between God and men (1 Tim. 2:5). Or, as Jesus said, No one comes to the Father except
through me (John 14:6). Therefore, God is under no obligation to answer the prayers of those
who have rejected his Son. Although he is aware of such prayers and at times out of his mercy
chooses to answer them, he does not promise to hear and answer the prayers of unbelievers
as he does the prayers of believers that are in accordance with his will.

Because Jesus is the only true mediator between a holy God and sinful men, he could tell his
disciples, Whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you (John 16:23).
When he said this, Jesus did not mean that we must tack the phrase in Jesus name onto
every one of our prayers. Instead, he meant that our prayers should be prayed based on his
authority as our mediator and in accordance with his character. This is, in part, what John
meant when he wrote to those who believe in the name of the Son of God and said, If we
ask anything according to his will he hears us (1 John 5:13 - 14).

Our Attitude in Prayer

Not only does he hear us, John says, but if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we
know that we have the requests that we have asked of him (1 John 5:15). These effective
prayers that Jesus answers and we so long to pray, must be prayed according to his will (1
John 5:14). Praying according to Gods will often requires humility on our part, for it requires
that we pray not simply for what we desire but instead for what God desires.

Sometimes it is easy to know what Gods will is and, therefore, to pray in accordance with his
will. For example, if we pray in line with a direct command or declaration of his will in
Scripture, then we will be asking God to do what he desires to do and asking for things that
please him. In fact, Jesus encourages us to have Gods very words within us as we pray: If you
abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you
(John 15:7).

There are, however, many situations where it isnt abundantly clear what Gods will is. At these
times, we should pray in line with the general principles of Scripture, asking God to work on
our behalf and telling him the requests that seem best to us as far as we understand them. We
should do so with a humble attitude, realizing that we are asking God to work only if it is in line
with his will. Sometimes God will grant what we ask. At other times, he will deepen our
understanding of the situation so that our hearts are moved to ask for something else. And at
other times, he will seem to be silent. At those difficult times, we should be content to know
that Gods will in this situation is even better than receiving what we have asked.

Even so, Jesus encourages us to pray in such a way that we believe we have already received
(that is, God has already decided to give us) what we ask for (Mark 11:24). This kind of faith is
not something we can create or force if we dont really believe; it is a gift from God that he
often gives in the midst of prayer. This assurance of things hoped for and conviction of
things not seen (Heb. 11:1) comes from a belief that God exists and that he rewards those
who seek him (Heb. 11:6).

Anything in our lives that displeases God will hinder our prayers. As the psalmist explains, If I
had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened (Ps. 66:18). Similarly,
The LORD is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous (Prov. 15:29). And
The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face
of the Lord is against those who do evil (1 Peter 3:12).

However, we do not need to be completely free from sin in order for God to hear our prayers.
If God only answered the prayers of perfect, sinless people, then God would only answer the
prayers of Jesus. And, as was said earlier, it is only because of Jesus work on our behalf that
God will hear our prayers. We do, however, need to seek holiness in our lives, for this is often
the path to greater blessing.

When we do sin, God urges us to use his gift of prayer to seek his forgiveness. When we
confess our sins to God, it restores our day-today relationship with him. When we confess our
sins, God is faithful and just to forgive those sins and not punish us for them (1 John 1:9),
because Christ was already punished for them on the cross. With this encouragement we
should not only seek the Lords forgiveness for the wrong we know we have done, but we
should also ask that he declare us innocent from hidden faults (Ps. 19:12). In addition, James
encourages us to confess our sins to one another and to pray for one another so that we
may be healed (James 5:16).

Finally, in light of Gods work on our behalf, we should ask for things with a humble attitude,
for God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). This means, in part,
that we realize we will not always ask for things as we ought or in accordance with Gods will.
And therefore, sometimes our prayers wont be answered as we desire them to be answered.

When our prayers arent answered, we join the company of men like Jesus and Paul whose
prayers were not answered. Even Jesus, before he was crucified, asked his Father to remove
this cup from him. But his humility and submission to Gods will are evident in the second part
of his prayer: Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done (Luke 22:42).

Three times, Paul pleaded with the Lord to take away his affliction; the Lord did not do so,
but instead told Paul, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in
weakness (2 Cor. 12:8 - 9). These unanswered prayers did not deter either Jesus or
Pauls trust in a God who works all things ... together for good (Rom. 8:28). God still promises
us today, I will never leave you nor forsake you (Heb. 13:5). Therefore, regardless of the
situation, we can confidently say, The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to
me? (Heb. 13:6).